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Pisa

Pisa is a city in Italy's Tuscany region best
known for its iconic Leaning Tower. Already tilting when it was
completed in 1372, the 56m white-marble cylinder is the bell
tower of the Romanesque, striped-marble cathedral that rises
next to it in the Piazza dei Miracoli. Also in the piazza is the
Baptistry, whose renowned acoustics are demonstrated by amateur
singers daily, and the Caposanto Monumentale cemetery.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre
pendente di Pisa) or simply the Tower of Pisa (Torre di Pisa) is
the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of
the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended
tilt. The tower is situated behind the Pisa Cathedral and is the
third oldest structure in the city's Cathedral Square (Piazza
del Duomo), after the cathedral and the Pisa Baptistry. The
tower's tilt began during construction in the 12th century,
caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one
side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt
increased in the decades before the structure was completed in
the 14th century. It gradually increased until the structure was
stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the
late 20th and early 21st centuries. The height of the tower is
55.86 metres (183.27 feet) from the ground on the low side and
56.67 metres (185.93 feet) on the high side. The width of the
walls at the base is 2.44 m (8 ft 0.06 in). Its weight is
estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons). The tower
has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on
the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed
between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5
degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees. This
means the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 metres
(12 ft 10 in) from the centre.

The Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles),
formally known as Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square), is a
walled 8.87-hectare area located in Pisa, recognized as an
important center of European medieval art and one of the finest
architectural complexes in the world. Considered sacred by the
Catholic Church, its owner, the square is dominated by four
great religious edifices: the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry,
the Campanile, and the Camposanto Monumentale (Monumental
Cemetery). Partly paved and partly grassed, the Piazza dei
Miracoli is also the site of the Ospedale Nuovo di Santo Spirito
(New Hospital of the Holy Spirit), which houses the Sinopias
Museum (Italian: Museo delle Sinopie) and the Cathedral Museum
(Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). The name Piazza dei Miracoli was
coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who,
in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910), described the
square as the "prato dei Miracoli," or "meadow of miracles". The
square is sometimes called the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of
Miracles). In 1987, the whole square was declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.

Pisa Cathedral (Cattedrale Metropolitana
Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval
Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the
Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy. It is a
notable example of Romanesque architecture, in particular the
style known as Pisan Romanesque. It is the seat of the
Archbishop of Pisa.

Santa Maria della Spina is a small church in
the Italian city of Pisa. The church, erected around 1230 in the
Pisan Gothic style, and enlarged after 1325, was originally
known as Santa Maria di Pontenovo for the newer bridge that
existed nearby, collapsed in the 15th century, and was never
rebuilt. The name of della Spina ("of the thorn") derives from
the presence of a thorn, putatively part of the crown of thorns
placed on Christ during his Passion and Crucifixion. The relic
was brought to this church in 1333. In 1871 the church was
dismantled and rebuilt on a higher level due to dangerous
infiltration of water from the Arno river. The church was
altered in the process, however, and John Ruskin, who visited
Pisa in 1872, was outraged about the restoration. The church of
Santa Maria della Spina has always been administered by the
city, except for short interruptions in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries when it fell to the responsibility of the
local hospital.

The Knights’ Square (Piazza dei Cavalieri) is a
landmark in Pisa, Italy, and the second main square of the city.
This square was the political centre in medieval Pisa. After the
middle of 16th century the square became the headquarters of the
Order of the Knights of St. Stephen. Now it is a centre of
education, being the main house of the Scuola Normale di Pisa, a
higher learning institution part of the University.

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